Throughout history, in tribal and traditional societies, massage was an integral part of a woman’s pregnancy, labor and postpartum experience. Typically, the women of the community gathered together to support her and her baby with herbal medicines, rituals, massage, physical and emotional support.

In this country, massage therapists and bodyworkers have an opportunity to encourage pregnant women to incorporate massage therapy into their prenatal, labor and postpartum care. Massage therapy offers the gravid woman a safe, nurturing and relaxing way to relieve the common discomforts she may be experiencing.

During the MotherMassage ®: Massage during Pregnancy professional certification workshop, you will learn the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy, labor and postpartum, as well as the skills and bodywork techniques necessary to massage your clients competently from their first trimester through labor and postpartum recovery. Hands-on work includes full body prenatal massage in five different positions: side-lying without turning the client; side-lying turning to the opposite side; side-lying to supine; sitting and using the bodyCushion System ™, labor support massage and postpartum massage therapy. Appropriate draping and practitioner body mechanics are discussed. Hand-saving massage techniques are explored. Special attention is paid to high risk pregnancy care and treating the most common discomforts of pregnancy. The contraindications and precautions of prenatal massage are discussed in detail.

A variety of bodywork systems, such as Swedish massage, acupressure, trigger point therapy, deep tissue, myofascial release, reflexology, proprioception, etc are used. Herbal remedies and nutritional supplementation are discussed along with marketing and promotional strategies to help increase your specialized practice.

This three-day course (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) is held from 9:00am to 6:00pm Friday and Saturday and 8:30 – 3:00pm on Sunday (unless travel plans require a time adjustment). 24 CEUs are granted from ALACE, CAPPA, DONA, FL. Board of Massage, Lamaze International and NCBTMB (Category A provider). 21 CEUs approved from ICEA. This course is open to all advanced massage students, professional massage therapists and bodyworkers, childbirth educators, nurse-midwives, lay-midwives, doulas, physical therapists, obstetricians and labor support coaches. All non-massage professionals must have basic massage skills as a prerequisite to this course.

A student manual is distributed and a certificate of attendance is provided at the satisfactory completion of this course. Professional certification is awarded after completing the course, passing a take-home exam with at least 80% and validated proof that you have massaged two different pregnant women (Letters of Receipt of Service are included.)

You must pay in full at the time of registration. The cost of the class is $400.00 for early registration and $430.00 for late registration – the week of the class. If you are taking this class a second time, $25.00 per day will be discounted. A copy of your certificate is required for this discount. You must also purchase a copy of Prenatal massage: a textbook of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum bodywork (Stillerman, Mosby, 2008) for $41.95 plus tax before the first day of class. Most host school’s bookstores carry the book. It is also available on-line at http://www.elsevierhealth.com/ or http://www.mothermassage.net/.

Participants are also required to bring two towels, two sheets, two pillows, unscented lubrication and a notebook to class. If you are able to provide a pregnant volunteer for Saturday morning’s practicum, please advise the host school.

At each class (where the minimum number of students has been met), a Full Pro Plus bodyCushion System ™ (www.bodysupport.com), valued at over $750.00, will be given away to one lucky student, compliments of body Support Systems ™. All MotherMassage ® students receive a 10% discount plus free shipping on all bodyCushion System ™ purchases up to 90 days after the workshop.

The developer and instructor of MotherMassage ® is Elaine Stillerman, LMT. Licensed in New York since 1978, Stillerman began her pioneering work with pregnant women in 1980. She has been teaching the professional certification course “MotherMassage ®” at prestigious massage schools, spas and resorts across the country since 1990. She has written two books, MotherMassage: A Handbook For Relieving the Discomforts of Pregnancy (Dell, 1992) and The Encyclopedia of Bodywork (Facts On File, 1996), Prenatal Massage: A Textbook of Pregnancy, Labor and Postpartum Bodywork (Mosby, 2008), and Modalities for Massage and Bodywork (Mosby, 2009). She has written numerous articles for magazines and journals and her work has been featured in dozens of national magazines. She has appeared on several television and radio programs.

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Payment Instructions

ATTENTION MILDRED ELLEY STUDENTS AND GRADS - YOU GET A $50 DISCOUNT! Please follow the directions below to provide your payment via postage mail and we'll do the confirmation of your student status when we get it. Your invoice will say $400, but just make a note that you are a student/alum and we'll take care of the rest!